


Crash

by choomchoom



Series: Destructive Interference (prowlrod spec ops au) [3]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Breakup Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23740231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/choomchoom/pseuds/choomchoom
Summary: An impending separation digs up every issue in Prowl and Hot Rod's relationship. Way in the future, they talk about it. Sort of.
Relationships: Hot Rod/Prowl
Series: Destructive Interference (prowlrod spec ops au) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616956
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	Crash

**Author's Note:**

> The inevitable breakup - you might have noticed there's one chapter left to be posted of Friction, Propagation, and I decided I'd rather post this first and leave the AU off on happier times.

NOW

“Hey, Prowl.”

“Not you too. Do you want to have a conversation at the top of Metroplex’s watchtower, so you can throw me off when I say something you don’t like?”

“No. Do you want me to leave?”

“...no.”

* * *

THEN

“I’ve been reassigned.”

“ _Finally_. Where to? When do we leave?”

“ _We_ don’t.”

“…what?”

“I’m going to be advising Optimus directly. I’m no longer going to be in command of anyone.”

“So what’s going to happen to all of us?”

“The whole army has been shifting to smaller command cells. You’re going to be working under Kup for now. I’ve recommended that he start giving you command of small units.”

“I don’t want to work under Kup.”

“Optimus Prime doesn’t issue orders based on what you _want_.”

“Come on, Prowl.”

“That was harsh. I’m sorry…I don’t want this either.”

“There has to be something you can do.”

“Short of conjunxing you, there isn’t.”

“…”

“…”

* * *

NOW

Rodimus followed Prowl through the city to a small ship and watched Prowl type in a passcode, unlatch a physical lock, and disarm a security system before opening the exterior hatch. He came close to having second thoughts about the whole thing as Prowl slipped inside without even a glance back at him, but he found himself following Prowl before those thoughts even finished forming.

The interior of the ship was as starkly decorated as Rodimus had expected, and he squashed his flash of anger at Prowl’s…something. His everything. Rodimus wasn’t here to start another fight. “You have a med kit?” he asked around his urge to say something about Prowl’s lack of design sense.

“I can patch myself up.”

“For old times sake?” Rodimus needled, only because Prowl had brought their whole mess of a relationship up first.

Silently, Prowl opened a closet door, pulled out a standard-issue med kit, and handed it to Rodimus.

* * *

THEN

Prowl took a moment to glare at the ceiling as Hot Rod opened the door to Prowl’s quarters. Prowl had run all the scenarios. No matter what Hot Rod did, no matter how Prowl responded, this night would end badly.

He should have thought more about it at the start. He should have predicted that this relationship would be a mistake. But he’d been so alone, and Hot Rod had been so kind and so alluring and so alive. It had been a mistake, and Prowl had made it.

“I have something for you,” Hot Rod said. Prowl barely refrained from slapping a hand over his optics in despair. This was the worst possible outcome.

“You don’t want to conjunx me,” Prowl said.

Hot Rod stopped in his tracks. “What did you say?”

“You don’t want to be my conjunx. You’re not going to want to be with me forever.”

Hot Rod took another step forward. Prowl’s tank churned. “I want to be with you now. That’s what matters to me.”

“You’re going to change your mind.”

“Quit telling me how I feel.”

“See? You’re already angry at me.”

Hot Rod stared at the ceiling. “Tell me that was a joke.”

“Why are you telling me to stop when I’m _right_?” Prowl asked, already knowing that it wasn’t the way to end this conversation peacefully. There wasn’t a way to end this conversation peacefully.

* * *

NOW

“Really?”

Rodimus tensed on instinct. It took him a second to realize what Prowl was talking about – his optics were on the numbers carved in Rodimus’s hand.

Prowl already knew how many people were on Rodimus’s crew. Of course he’d figured it out on sight.

Rodimus resisted the urge to hide it and kept on picking debris out of Prowl’s shoulder where he’d hit the ground. “Your conversational skills have gotten worse with time.”

* * *

THEN

The next night, Prowl showed up at Hot Rod’s quarters. Word of the fairly loud fight they’d ended up having had clearly gotten around – everyone had been avoiding optic contact with Prowl. Hot Rod had stormed out before Prowl felt they’d reached a satisfactory conclusion, though, so Prowl wanted to finish it.

Hot Rod opened the door, like Prowl had known he would. “Got more insults ready?” Hot Rod asked, shoulders squared as though preparing for battle.

Prowl had come prepared to calmly say, “I think we need to end this.” But at the sight of Hot Rod, he didn’t feel calm and didn’t know that he could fake it. “You _want_ more insults?” he asked. “I can never tell what you want and half the time I think you’re making things up just to confuse me!”

“I would never do that! I can’t believe you trust me so little as to think I’d use my own feelings as a weapon.”

“Of course I don’t trust you! I don’t trust anyone! How could you not know that after all this time?” They were yelling in the hallway. Once Prowl would have been horrified at himself for it. Right now, all he felt was relief, like the arguing was unclenching something that had wrapped around his spark like a vice.

“You made me think I was different, and don’t try to tell me it wasn’t on purpose.”

“It wasn’t!”

Hot Rod didn’t respond immediately to that, and the uncomfortable squeeze on Prowl’s spark started to tighten again. It only relaxed when Hot Rod opened his mouth around a new cutting remark.

* * *

NOW

“Aren’t you angry at me?” Prowl’s voice was as flat as it always was when he was serious about something.

“Well, much as I hate to admit it, you know me pretty well. Am I angry at you?”

“No. You’re blaming yourself.”

“I know you manipulated me but...I still shouldn’t have let it happen. It wouldn’t have happened if I was a better person. Drift tried to tell me and I still didn’t listen.”

“I’d planned on that. I used everything I know about you against you to get Overlord on that ship. I knew that you favored risky plans and want nothing more than to be useful to the cause.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Regret what?”

Rodimus just looked at him. Prowl sighed.

“I don’t usually regret things. I make every decision knowing the chances of success and failure. I can’t waste time on regrets if I want to be effective. But lately...you’re probably looking for the short answer, and the short answer is yes.”

“Doesn’t feel good, does it?”

Prowl turned to glare at Rodimus, who shrugged.

“You just told me you’re having feelings that are distressing and unfamiliar. Not talking about them isn’t going to help.”

“You don’t know that. I don’t know that. I don’t know how my processor works anymore.”

“I do know that, actually. I might not be great at battle plans and thinking ahead and numbers, but I know people. And whatever you’d like to believe about your superior processing capability – you’re a person, Prowl, and you always have been.”

Still facing away from him, Prowl nodded. Rodimus knew that was the closest to acknowledgement of any of it as he was going to get.

* * *

THEN

Prowl didn’t expect to see Hot Rod in the shuttle bay. He probably could have predicted it, but he’d been doing his best to avoid thinking about Hot Rod at all.

Hot Rod said nothing. He walked up to Prowl and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing his frame as if they were lovers reuniting after a battle. Prowl hugged him back automatically, holding on to him as though the very act could fuse their bodies into one.

Hot Rod didn’t say anything. Prowl didn’t either. Anything he had to say would probably ruin it.

* * *

NOW

Rodimus paused. Prowl had stood up to walk him out, and it felt right, before he left, to step up to him and, at Prowl’s lack of reluctance, pull him into a tight hug. Prowl returned it, and they stayed there for long enough that Rodimus could almost remember why he’d once loved Prowl.

“It’s weird that I’m taller than you now,” Rodimus said.

Prowl leaned in closer, resting his head on Rodimus’s shoulder. “Yes. It’s weird.”

They stood there for a lot longer than Rodimus had expected. Eventually, though, Prowl shifted and stepped back. Rodimus waved an awkward goodbye, and Prowl closed the door while Rodimus returned to his ship.


End file.
